Comess – Botched and Flailed

Comess list some bands on their Facebook page bio section they like such as Converge, Trap Them, Botch, Kowloon Walled City, to name a few. Then they class themselves as Noise/Hardcore. I kind of knew exactly what to expect, but I got a pleasant surprise. I know that seems very cynical of me, and I will explain why. Noisecore, math metal, and mathcore are genres I like a few bands from, but there is a vast amount of garbage. The trouble is that these bands have a crazy live show! You know, the type where the members seemingly have no concern for anyone else’s welfare or their own? Guitars are thrown around a band members body as much as they are played, drummers are beating their kit to the limits of the hardware, and singers are flinging themselves in the crowd, around the stage, and from anything they can climb. Basically, you should blame early Norma Jean and any period you like of The Chariot.

The issue came when clueless hardcore kids thought that they didn’t have to worry about song writing. They pulled on some skinny jeans, got this year’s haircut, a Coalesce shirt to show they were “real,” went mental whilst playing “000 – 111 – 00 – 1 – 0,” with some discords and thought BOOM, song written. Again, I know I sound like a jaded old jerk, but I have seen this so often in my time in a touring band. Every town for years had at least one band that were noise-core who were total style over substance garbage. Well not so with Comess, these chaps are as noisy as any band you can think of, but they have songs, memorable parts, and real conviction.

Seriously, Comess even bring a little something else to the table. They eschew some of the jazzier leanings of similar bands and do away with any quirks that even the likes of Dillinger Escape Plan would throw into the mix now and again. This doesn’t mean they can’t get tricky and clever, because they can, and they do, but they prefer to not let anything get in the way of pummeling you for just shy of half an hour.

They also list Poison the Well as band they like, and you can hear the influence of Tropic Rot era PTW, and that is a good thing. This mixed with their obvious worship of Botch gives them an edge all their own. Comess are in love with bands that sound truly like no other and in turn, have done that trick themselves. So, to be fair to them, instead of saying if you like this style or that band, I say if you simply like heavy music, then check out Botched and Flailed. Get in on the ground floor, because Comess just might become trailblazers.